Other Killings By Blackwater Staff Detailed

State Dept. Papers Tell of Coverup

Blackwater security contractors in Iraq have been involved in at least 195 "escalation of force" incidents since early 2005, including several previously unreported killings of Iraqi civilians, according to a new congressional account of State Department and company documents.

In one of the killings, according to a State Department document, Blackwater personnel tried to cover up what had occurred and provided a false report. In another case, involving a Blackwater convoy's collision with 18 civilian vehicles, the firm accused its own personnel of lying about the event.

In this still video image from ABC News released on Friday, Sept. 28, 2007, one of two Blackwater convoys is seen escorting a U.S. State Department motorcade in western Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007, minutes after a car bomb exploded outside a financial compound which the State Department official was visiting, ABC News reported. Blackwater is said to have called for reinforcements immediately after the explosion, which minutes later led to a subsequent shootout that left at least 11 Iraqis dead. (AP Photo/ABC News) (Abc News - AP)

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The State Department made little effort to hold Blackwater personnel accountable beyond pressing the company to pay financial compensation to the families of the dead, the documents indicate. In a case involving a drunken Blackwater employee who killed a security guard to one of Iraq's vice presidents last Christmas Eve, U.S. government personnel helped negotiate a financial settlement and allowed the employee to depart Iraq.

Details of these and other incidents were released yesterday by the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), after the committee's staff examined hundreds of internal Blackwater and State Department documents. Erik Prince, Blackwater's chairman, and David M. Satterfield, the State Department's Iraq coordinator, are scheduled to testify today at a hearing before the committee.

On the eve of the hearing, the FBI announced that it is sending a team of agents to assist the State Department in investigating the alleged killing of at least 11 Iraqi civilians by Blackwater personnel on Sept. 16.

That incident sparked controversy in Washington and caused the Iraqi Interior Ministry to demand that Blackwater cease operations and turn over those responsible for trial. The ministry was then overruled by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who accepted a joint U.S.-Iraqi government investigation. The FBI is to participate in a separate inquiry being conducted by the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service.

Waxman and other critics have said the State Department, which has paid Blackwater nearly $1 billion for security work in Iraq, allowed the company to operate with impunity. "There is no evidence in the documents that the Committee has reviewed," a memorandum released by Democrats said, "that the State Department sought to restrain Blackwater's actions, raised concerns about the number of shooting incidents involving Blackwater or the company's high rate of shooting first, or detained Blackwater contractors for investigation."

In total, the documents indicate, Blackwater has terminated 122 employees under its State Department contract. According to Prince, the company currently has about 1,000 employees in Iraq.

The company, in a statement released yesterday evening, said it promised full cooperation with the FBI investigation into the Sept. 16 incident. "Blackwater USA has always supported strong contractor accountability and this latest step is a positive move," it said.

In his prepared testimony, Prince said Blackwater operates under "dangerous and challenging" circumstances and its work ensures that "more American service members are available to fight the enemy." He said the company "complies with all relevant contractual terms and conditions" and applicable laws, and has been the subject of "negative and baseless allegations reported as truth."

Committee Republicans unsuccessfully petitioned Waxman to postpone today's hearing until the investigations are complete. In their own memo yesterday, they accused him of "a rush to pre-judge and lay blame before the facts are known." While they acknowledged the "problems that arise from the use of private military contractors," they cautioned against attempts to label the Sept. 16 incident "the Department of State's Abu Ghraib."

Based on more than 437 Blackwater documents and "a limited number of incident reports and documents from the State Department," the Democratic staff memo said, Blackwater personnel had participated in 195 incidents in which they discharged firearms, with Blackwater firing first in more than 80 percent of them. At least 16 Iraqi casualties resulted.